


Head First and No Regrets

by sunflowersapphic



Category: The Book of Mormon - Parker/Stone/Lopez
Genre: High School AU, M/M, awkward prom because I'm a sucker for that kind of junk, heavily inspired by Walk The Moon's Aquaman
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-03
Updated: 2015-11-03
Packaged: 2018-04-29 19:19:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,800
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5139554
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunflowersapphic/pseuds/sunflowersapphic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"It’s dark and the music is pounding and Kevin would really rather be anywhere in the world than in the tiny high school gym but, alas, here he is. </p><p>What a sorry prom experience to look back on."</p><p>Kevin and Connor both want a different prom night than what they're currently getting.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Head First and No Regrets

**Author's Note:**

> Hello I've come to deliver a load of trashy high school au McPriceley on you guys!  
> As stated in the tags, the idea for this came from Walk The Moon's song Aquaman, which is where the title is from. I highly suggest going to listen to it, it's lovely.  
> Enjoy!

It’s dark and the music is pounding and Kevin would really rather be anywhere in the world than in the tiny high school gym but, alas, here he is. Standing on the wall watching Arnold and Nabulungi awkwardly slow dance to some song he was sure they had just played twenty minutes ago. Then again, all the songs had started to run together at this point anyway.

He sighed and tipped his head back, staring at all the gaudy decorations and counting the ceiling tiles in what could be considered an attempt at passing the time. Maybe Jack was right and he should have just asked someone. Dancing with some girl he was barely friends with would have been more tolerable than _this_. What a sorry prom experience to look back on.

The sound of someone clearing their throat from beside him caught his attention and he stood upright again, turning his gaze on the boy standing beside him.

“I noticed your little pity party and thought that you might want to actually dance with someone,” Connor McKinley smiled up at him, stretching out his hand.

Kevin stared blankly at him. Was he kidding? There was no way in heck he was about to dance at prom in front of the whole school with another boy. Especially not Connor, whom everyone at church already had more than enough to say about.

It was hard to say no, though, when Connor was staring at him so innocently, the kindest smile upon his lips. Maybe the rumors he had overheard his mother telling her friends weren’t true. Maybe he was really just trying to be a good friend. With his pale blue bowtie and perfectly coiffed ginger hair, he didn’t look at all like the predator they made him out to be.

Kevin mulled it over for about five seconds total before taking his hand and nodding. “Sure, I guess.” He smiled awkwardly, not nearly matching the brightness and natural cheer of Connor’s own but trying his best anyway.

Connor led him out to the dance floor and pulled him close. All of his movements were careful and came with a hint of hesitation, giving Kevin the sense that he was giving hard thought to where he put his hands on the taller boy. His hands ended up gingerly placed on Kevin’s waist. The brunet felt a wave of anxiety run through him starting at the points of contact and took a deep breath to settle himself back down. _It’s just Connor_ , he reminded himself silently. Kevin had never been one for physical contact with _any_ other person, let alone acquaintances who the entire town thought to be _gay_.

“I’m going to be honest, I was surprised to see you here without your own date,” Connor raised his eyebrows in nonchalant question, clearly wanting to pry while keeping an air of politeness.

“Yeah, well, I wasn’t exactly planning on going alone, it kind of just ended up that way,” Kevin did his best to keep the irritation from creeping up in his voice. “It was _supposed_ to be just me and Arnold, but he actually ended up with a date.” Kevin decided to leave out the part about how none of the girls at their school interested him in the slightest. “But I still had my ticket and tux and everything, so I decided to just third wheel it, I guess. So technically I’m not here _alone_ , just…” He paused, thinking it over. “Alone.”

Connor nodded in understanding. “Well, not alone anymore,” a gentle smile followed, and Kevin found himself returning it easily. Connor was a lot easier to be around than he had expected, and he wondered briefly why he had had any inhibitions about accepting the offer to dance in the first place.

“You’re alone too, though, why is that? Weren’t you going with Christopher?” Kevin found himself genuinely curious.

“Yes, but James tagged along last minute and the two of them have been attached at the hip all night. Felt like I was intruding a little.” Connor shrugged, and Kevin swore he felt him get closer. “I know that this is what Chris wanted anyway, who am I to ruin that?”

Kevin frowned. He felt a pang of what felt like a protective instinct. “You deserve to have a good prom night too, Connor. This is your night just as much as it is everyone else’s.”

Connor looked up at him and they held eye contact for a long moment. After a while the redhead broke contact, cheeks a brighter pink than usual. “It’s alright. At least I got to dance with someone, that’s all that matters in the end I guess.”

Well, that didn’t make Kevin feel any better about the situation. Without thinking, he blurted out the first thought to cross his mind. “Do you maybe wanna leave?”

Bright blue eyes started back up at him, blinking in confusion. “I’m sorry, what?”

Kevin sighed. “I asked if you wanted to leave. Who says we have to stay here and feel awful all night? We got pictures with our groups, had some punch, did the ‘prom experience’ or whatever and clearly that isn’t working for us, so why not just, you know, leave?”

As Connor thought the offer over Kevin felt his heart race. He could feel the anxiety raising in his chest and as the seconds passed the idea seemed increasingly stupid.

“You know what? Sure. Why not.” Connor smiled. “Let’s bounce.”

With a grin, Kevin pulled away and took his hand, leading him through the crowd of awkward couples and out of the gym.

“Where exactly are we going, anyway?” Connor asked, still smiling.

A shrug. “Don’t know! First place we find, I guess!”

They both laughed, and before they knew it they were sitting in the grass of the old baseball field. Three years back the school had used some of their budget to put in a new field, and the old one had been left to become overgrown and unkempt. It was pretty neat, if you asked Kevin.

“This is hardly how I imagined my prom, but I’m kind of glad it ended up this way,” Connor turned his attention to Kevin for a moment. “The stars are just _gorgeous_ tonight, and I would have missed them entirely had I spent the rest of the night in that gym…” He trailed off into silence, turning his face towards the sky. Kevin watched him in silence, completely forgetting that a normal human being should have provided some type of response. He was far more enraptured with the way Connor looked, however. His face was illuminated by the moon, blue eyes shining, and there was a faint smile playing at his lips. Had you asked Kevin in that moment to choose a word to describe how Connor looked in that moment, the closest thing he would have been able to come up with would be ‘ethereal’.

Kevin quickly pulled his gaze from Connor, realizing that it was probably considered inappropriate to stare for so long. He felt heat rise to his cheeks and he tried his hardest to dismiss the strange feeling that had settled in his stomach. It was nothing like his usual anxiety, which was both a comfort and a source of concern. He cleared his throat, feeling that conversation might help to ease whatever it was. “So, ah, why didn’t you ask anyone to go with you? I mean, Christopher ended up bringing James last minute, you very well could have done the same thing.”

Connor shook his head, frowning at the grass. “Believe me, if I could have asked someone I would. That’s not how it works for me, though.”

Before he even asked, Kevin felt he already knew the answer. “Why not?”

There was a long pause where Connor seemed to be frozen, his facial features neutralizing into something unreadable. He reached down to play with the grass after a moment so as to distract himself. When he spoke again his voice was far lower than it had been earlier in the conversation. “Because I would rather ask another boy than some girl, Kevin.”

Kevin’s stomach leaped, and the strange feeling intensified. His heartbeat picked up and he felt a rush of adrenaline as he pushed forward in the conversation. “So? I’m sure there are boys who would want to go with you. You could have easily passed it off to your parents as going with a friend. That’s what I would do.” If he liked boys. Which he didn’t.

Connor hugged his knees close to his chest. He looked immediately ten times more awkward than he had the moment before. “Kevin can we please not talk about this tonight. It’s over and done with, there’s nothing I can do now.”

But Kevin Price did not give in or settle. “That’s bullpoop, Connor. The night is far from over.” He stood clumsily, balance thrown off slightly. He held out his hand for Connor to take, anxiety and a million other feelings rushing through him at once. If he was going to do this, he was going to _do_ this.

A moment passed as the two made eye contact, each boy trying to decipher what the other was thinking. It was nearly a full minute before Connor finally took the hand that was offered to him and stood next to his taller counterpart. “Alright, now what?”

“Now we dance,” Kevin smiled, pulling Connor closer to him. “I’m going to give you the prom slow dance that you deserve, not what you got back in that gym.”

“Why are you doing this?”

That threw Kevin off. He paused, mulling the question over. He supposed that he didn’t really know why he had done _anything_ he had that night, things just seemed to be falling into place. “I don’t know, actually. I’ve been running on instinct I guess.” He shrugged and eased Connor back into their music-less dance.

“What instinct would that be, exactly?” Tentatively, Connor rested his head against Kevin’s shoulder. He was surprised to find that Kevin either didn’t care or didn’t notice.

“The one to help people? Just shut up and enjoy this.” Kevin pushed aside the notion that maybe it had something to do with that weird feeling in his stomach.

Connor chuckled softly and they continued on in silence for a few minutes, both just enjoying the company of one another. Their awkward embrace turned into one that was far tighter and more intimate. The anxiety that had filled Kevin earlier dissipated and melted into something warmer and far more preferable. There was an understanding that passed between the two of them that this moment was not to be disturbed by words, or even by the noise of music.


End file.
